Thread guide for thread holders



Oct. 23, 1.945. E. A. SA TQN 2,387,302

THREAD GUIDE FOR THREAD HOLDERS Original Filed April 1,' 19 14 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 my. I

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ATTIQRNEY Oct. 25, 1945.

E. A. SANTON 2,387,302

THREAD GUIDE FOR THREAD HOLDERS Original Filed April 1, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVE NT O'R EUMOMWMML ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 23, 1945 Elliot A. Santon, Worcester, Mass, assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester,- Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Original application April 1, 1944, Serial No.

1944, Serial No. 546,167

(Cl. I39247) 11 Claims.

This is a division of my co-pendin'g application Serial No. 529,147, filed April 1, 1944.

This invention relates to' improvementsin threadhold'ers for weft replenishing looms and it is the general object of th invention to improve the type of a thread holder ,having thread engaging-gears.

A type of weft replenishing loom which has gone into extensive use employs several stacks of reserve bobbins arranged in a magazine. Weft ends extend from the bobbins to a holder the purpose of which is to keep the threads taut and also hold the thread of or transferred bobbin to facilitate partial threading of the shuttle on the first pick after transfer. A well-known type of thread holder employs a pair of geared members between which the weft ends pass, provision being made to cause the geared members to turn during loom operation, preferably by a vibration motor. When coarse yarns are used the weft ends form such a large bundle that the vibrationmotor cannotturn the geared members, and it is an important object of my present invention to provide an electric motor connected to one of the geared members and causing the latter to turn slowly during loom operation. The motor ispreferably of the self-starting low speed syn chronous type, although I do not Wish to be limited to this particular kind of motor in the practice of myin-vention.

The aforesaid geared members are mounted on a support so that their axes are substantially parallel to the lay and the weft ends are led over the support and then passed downwardly to be subjected to tension by said members. The turning of the gears tends to group all the weft ends in a; small area the effect of which is to impose a considerable load on the gear driving mechanism. It is another object of my present invention to provide separator means so constructed that the weft 'end'scan be divided into groups which engage the gears at points spaced along the length of the gears. In this way the threads are distributed between the gears and do not form a sufliciehtly large bundle at any one point to interfere with the operation of a gear turning mechanism. The separator means is preferably arranged above the "gears and is'so constructed that one group of weft ends from the rear part of'tl'ie magazine is directed down- Wardly toward the gears along a; path spaced from the path traversed by the group ofweft ends from the front part of the magazine;

In the weaving of certain fabrics it is customary 'to use two difierent'types of yarns, such'as Divided and this application July 22,-

r yon and coarse cotton. In the reclamation of the waste threads it has been found difficult to separate these two types of yarns because of the form of thread holders heretofore used. It is a further object of my present invention to provide thread guide means: below the gears defining different paths, one for each type of yarn. Thus, the guide may be cc constructed that rayon yarns coming from the'fro'nt ot the magazine are led over a guide which directs them forwardly, while the heavy cotton yarns are led over a second guide which directs them rearwardly. The two types of weft are therefore kept separate and the labor of reclaiming. the waste yarns issimplified.

While I show hereinafter guides both above and below the thread terisioning gears, yet it is to be understood that these-guides need not necessarily be used together.- If all the yarns are of the same kind and are large, the separator above the gears will sufiice, but if two distinctive weftsare used the guide below the gears can be' used either with or Withoutthe guide above the gears.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement 0t parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is setforth:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a weft replenishing loom having my invention applied thereto, 7 M t Fig. 2 is a side elevation looking in the direction of arrow 2, Fig. 1, V V

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation looking in the direction of arrow 3, Fig. 1, showing both. the top and bottom separators or guides for the weft ends, I v

Fig. 4- is a horizontal section On line 4-4, Fig. 3', showing. the driving motor for one of the gears,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation showing the interior of the casing on which the thread gears are mounted as seen from the center of the loom, with the dust protector plate removed, and looking in the direction of arrow 5, Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail plan, partly in section, of the connection between the drivin motor' and one of the thread gears,

Fig. 7 is afront elevationof thethread holder looking in the dir'e'ctionof arrow 1, .Fig. 3,

Fig. 8 is a plan view of 'the'thread holder looking in the direction of arrow 1, Fig. 3,

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view showing the electric control circuit for the motor.

to a thread holder designated generally, at H mounted on an arm I 3 secured at I4 to some part of the magazine, such as a tie rod.l5.

The thread holder is provided with front and back thread engaging gears and 2|, respectively, mounted on a casing 22 having a side wall 23, end walls 24 and 25 and top and bottom walls 26. Thread gear 2|. is secured to ,shaft. 21 which turns in abearing 28 on the upper end of an arm 29 pivoted on a stud 30 securedto the casing. -.A light coil spring 3| lies between arm 29 and a flat spring 32 the upper; end ofwhich is. secured .astat 33 to one wall 25. An adjusting screw 34 threaded into wall 25 adjacent to the flat springengages the lower end of the latter to adjust the same toward and from arm 29 for the purpose of varying the force exerted by spring 3|. Spring ::3l is weaker than the flat spring andv will be compressed. when the latter is moved to the dotted line position shown inFig. 5 to increase resistance to pivotal movement of the gear 2! in a rearward direction, or to the right as viewed in Fig. 3.

The front .geared memberam issecured'to a shaft 40 which turns'in a bearing 4| fixed with respect to the thread holder casing. A' small electric motor E is mounted on tubular supports 42 and held in position by screws 43 passing through the supports and tapped into the vertical side wall 23. A coupling 44, see Fig. 6, connects shaft 4| with the shaft 45 ofthe' motor. The motor is located within casing 22 and is -prot'e cted by the usual cover 46. l i The motor is supplied with electric power by two insulated wires 41 and 48 which, as shownin Fig. 5, lead from the motor out of the bottom wall 25 and then along the latter to be attached for supporting purposes as at 49 to the arm I 3. The wires 41 and 48 then extend along'ar'm 13f to'a transformer box 50 whichsupplies'electric energy for turning the motor. 7

As shown in Fig. 9 the circuit containing the motor E is under control of some part of the-loom which determines whether theloom shall run'or be stopped. There aretwo gene'ral ways offstopping the loom, one through the shipper inechanism, and the other by stopping the driving motor, but I do not deem it necessary to show controls exercised by both of these stopping methods. I have shown, however, means by which stopping of the loom through the shipper handle will effect stoppage of the motor E, I

Referring to Fig. 9 the shipper handle 52 when in the forward running position, that isyto. the

left, Figs. Zand 9, effects closure of. a switch 53, but when the shipper handlemoves rearwardly, or to the dotted line position shown in Fig.9, the switch 53 is open. 'Thecircuit'shown'inliig, 9 indicates how theshipper mechanism'gontrols the motor E. When the shipperhandleis in-running position current will flow in' the following circuit: secondary 55 of the 'transformerT, wire ,56. to

switch 53, wire 51, wire 41, the motor E, and wire 48 back to the other side of the secondary winding 55. So long as the shipper handle is in running position this circuit is closed and the motor E continues to run at a very slow rate, such as four to eight revolutions per minute. When the shipper handle is moved to stopping position,

on the gears 20 and 2i if the thread holder were made substantially as constructed heretofore. In order to distribute the load I provide a separator 50 which as shown in Fig. 7 has a vertical wall 61 secured by screws 62 to the thread holder casing.

This wall extends upwardly and then extends horizontally as at 63 over the top wall 26 of the casing. The left part of the separator projects over gear 20 as at 64 to a point substantially midway of the length thereof as shown in Fig.7. A side edge 65 on part 64 leads to the right, Fig.8, to an upstanding horn 66 which may be v inthe form of a hook to limit rearward movementof weft threads. The rear part of the guide 50 is cut away as at 6'! to expose the rear thread gear 2|. The thread holder casing 22 has the usual guide 68 which overhangs a part ,of both of :the gears 2-3 and 2!. This guide 68 has a thread en.- gaging edge 89 which is nearer the magazine than is thread guiding edge 65. j'

In using the separator 60, the group of yarns 62 from the back of the magazine will be led over the separator GBand permitted tofall ,over'the edge 69 and onto gear 2!. The gears are: then spun manually and group G2 is drawn downward ly between the gears 20 and 2] to a position desig-, nated at A close to guide 68. The second group of threads G from the front of the magazine is then led over edge 65 and allowed to'fall on gear 2@. This group G will :eventually occupy the position designated at B between the gears and spaced outwardly from guide 68. The bundles of threads at positions A and B are spaced from each other so that *theload .onthe motor E will-be much less than would be the case if all the threads should occupy the position which theywould take under former construction, that is, at ';A. 3: v

If groups G and G2 are formediofdifferent types of yarn, such as rayon and-coarse cotton it is desirable that they be separated below. the

gears to simplify reclamation. r Accordingly,'I

provide means below the gears defining two different paths leading away from sa d gears; one of said paths extending forwardly for" one type of yarn and the other path leadin rearwardly; for the other type of yarn. In Figs. 3 and 7- I have shown a thread guide or separator 10 made with oppositely extending ears II and" held to-wall 23 by screws 13. The intermediate part of guide 10 is made with upwardly convergingfioorslii and 16 formed withside flanges-Tl, and 18,;respectively. The-floors and flanges form -front and back guide troughs andG-L-respectively, which extend, as indicated in Fig. 7y-top0sitions under the thread guide 88 to hold the threads in proper position. j 7

When using'the guide or separator -|0,-the front group of threads G will be led downwardly between the gears 20 and 21 and then moved;for'- wardly into the front trough 80; and then the rear group G2 after being passed. between-the gears, will be directed alongtherear trough 8L,

aesrpoa The two groups are therefore -zkeptrseparateand can :be "gathered independently ofieach 'othertfor reclamation purposes. It is obvious-that under certain conditions it will .be sufiicient if "only one Of the guide troughs is used, since one 'of'them will deflect its group away from the center of the thread holder and the'other group can hang as usual below the line of mesh of the gears 20 and 2 I. It is apparent also that I am not limited to the particular form of 'guide 10, since it isisufficient if a thread 'guide is used which 'isspaced from a vertical line passing through the line of mesh'of the .gears and over which one :of the groups maybe trained.

The upperiguide 6B andlower guide ifl canibe used together when two types'of weft are :being woven, but it may not always be necessary "touuse the-top guide 60 with two types of weft, since the fine yarns add very little to the total size of the bundle of weft ends and all of the latter can hang down over the edge 69 as heretofore and be separated by the guide 70. In similar manner, top guide 60 can be used without the bottom guide 10 when all the yarns are of the ame type.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided simple means for driving the thread gears 20 and 2| continuously during loom operation by means of a small electric motor which can be housed in the usual type of casing heretofore provided for geared thread holders. It will also be seen that the motor for the gears is controlled so that it will run only when needed} Further, it will be noted that I have provided a thread separator 60 overhanging the thread gears and effective to separate the yarns into two groups which engage the gears at diiferent points along their lengths. The top separator 60 can of course be used with both light and coarse yarns if desired. Furthermore, it will be seen that I have provided a thread guide 10 below the gears 20 and 2| to separate the bundles of weft ends when two types of weft are used in the loom, the purpose of the separation being to simplify reclaiming of the waste threads.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a weft replenishing mechanism away from which extend two groups of weft threads, a pair of meshing geared members rotating to draw the threads away from said mechanism and having axes extending toward the latter, and two guides extending above said members at difierent distances from said mechanism, one of said guides engaging and guiding one of said groups toward said members. along a path relatively near said mechanism and the other guide engaging and guiding the other group toward said members along a path farther from said mechanism.

2. In a weft. replenishing mechanism away from which extend two groups of weft threads, a pair of meshing geared members rotating to draw the threads away from said mechanism and having axes extending toward the latter, two guides extending above said members at different distances from said mechanism, one of said guides engaging and guiding one of said groups toward said members along a path relatively near said mechanism and the other guide engaging and guiding the other group toward said members along a path farther from said mechanism, and means on said other guide limiting movement of saidother group in 'one direction relative'ly to said other guide.

3. In -a weft replenishing -mechan.ism :away from which extend two groups of weft threads, a pair of meshing geared members 'rotatingto draw the threads away from-said mechanism and having axes'extending toward the latter, two guides extending above said members at differentdistances from said mechanism, one of said guides engaging and guiding one of said groups toward said members along a path relatively -near said mechanism and the other guide engaging and guiding the other group toward said members along-a pathfarther from said mechanism,and means on said other guide extending away from said geared members and limiting movement of said-other group inone direction-relatively to said other guide.

4. In a weft replenishing mechanism away from which extend two groups of weft threads,

a pair of meshing geared members rotating to I draw the threads away from said mechanism and having axes extending toward the latter, and two guides above said geared members at different distances from said mechanism, one guide for each group of threads, and each guide directing 40 from said mechanism greater than said given distance, the teeth of each geared member extending beyond the corresponding guide in a direction away from said mechanism.

6. In a thread holder for a weft replenishing mechanism having two types of weft ends extending therefrom and drawn downwardly between rotating geared members which deliver said weft ends downwardly, guide means below said geared members defining two different paths for said weft ends, one path for each of said types of weft ends.

'7. In a thread holder for a weft replenishing mechanism having two types of weft ends extending therefrom and drawn downwardly between rotating geared members which deliver said weft ends downwardly, a support on which said geared members are rotatably mounted, and means secured to said support below said members defining two guide troughs f-or said weft ends, one trough for each of said typesof weft ends.

8. In a thread holder for a weft replenishing mechanism having two types of weft ends extending therefrom and drawn downwardly between rotating geared members which deliver said weft ends downwardly, a support on which said geared members are rotatably mounted, and a thread guide on said support below said members and located to one side of a vertical line passing centrally between the axes of said members to hold one of said groups spaced from the other group.

9. In a thread holder for a weft replenishing mechanism having two types of weft ends extending therefrom and drawn downwardly between rotating geared members which deliver said weft ends downwardly, a support on which said geared members are rotatably mounted, and a pair of thread guides on said support spaced horizontally and lyingon opposite sides of a vertical line passing centrally between the axes of said members,,one guide for each of said two types of weft ends; each guide causing the corresponding type of Weft ends to follow a path directed away from the path of the other type of weft ends.

10. In a thread holder having a support for a pair of thread tensioning members, a carrier pivoted on said support and mounting one of said members for movement toward and from the other member, a flat spring one end of which is secured to said support, resilient means between said spring and said carrier exerting a force on the latter tending to move said one member toward said other member, and adjusting means to change the position of the other end of said flat spring relatively to said carrier to vary the force exerted by said resilient means on said carrier.

'11. In a thread holder having a support for a pair of thread tensioning members, a carrier 3 pivoted on said support and mounting one of said members for movement toward and from the other member, a flat spring one end of which is secured to said support, a coiled compression spring between the ends of said flat spring and said carrier exerting a force on said carrier tending to move said one member toward the other member, and an adjusting screw on said support engaging the other end of said flat spring to change the position of the latter relatively to said support in a direction toward and from said carrier to vary the force exerted by said coiled spring on said carrier.

' ELLIOT A. SANTON. 

